Tourism & Local Spending: Small business owners in U.S. tourist hotspots say Americans are staying closer to home this summer—more road trips, day excursions, and home cooking to cut costs as airfares and gasoline stay high, with the FIFA World Cup and the U.S. 250th birthday adding “stay-local” reasons. Digital Tax Push: Pakistan’s finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told business groups that a fully digitalised tax system is needed to plug leakages and boost collection, while also easing taxpayer hassle; he flagged interest-rate cuts and ongoing reforms ahead of FY27-28. E-Invoicing Compliance in the UAE: Advintek received UAE Federal Tax Authority Accredited Service Provider approval to help firms automate e-invoicing and prepare for the January 2027 mandate. AI in MENA Banking: Commercial Bank won MEED’s “Best Use of AI in Financial Services” award, highlighting practical AI use for customer experience and operational efficiency. SME Payments & Crypto Finance: Zentro expanded UAE digital asset services for liquidity and payments, while Pakistan’s banks warned that shifting remittance costs onto banks from July 1 could dent profitability. Operational Disruption: Alarum Technologies said it is temporarily pausing traffic through certain network services while investigating a NetNut network incident.